In defence of the ECB

Wim Duisenberg and his team are doing well in hard circumstances

By

Warwick Lightfoot

July 26, 1999 5:00 p.m. GMT

The weakness of the euro since its launch has been embarrassing. Monetary union has always been a political rather than an economic project, but it has been dressed up in financial clothes. Central to the rhetoric was the assertion that the single currency would be strong and stable. So far it has been neither. Financial pundits have had a field day, while the new central bank has ended up with egg on its face.

The ECB has been portrayed as an ineffective and clumsy market operator, presided over by a hapless Dutch banker....